


You Above All Else

by sithlordsirius



Series: Bi!Joel [1]
Category: The Last of Us
Genre: Angst, Coming Out, Gay, M/M, Main character injured, OC, Protective Joel, Soft Joel, bi!joel, i just miss joel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-29
Updated: 2020-07-29
Packaged: 2021-03-05 02:40:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,797
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25487131
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sithlordsirius/pseuds/sithlordsirius
Summary: Joel and Lucas cut through the remains of a crumbling city to make a supply run when they are attacked by a group of raiders...
Relationships: Joel (The Last of Us)/Original Male Character(s)
Series: Bi!Joel [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1846285
Comments: 4
Kudos: 21





	You Above All Else

Joel grunted as he landed, the ground under him wobbling a little. He sighed, stumbling forward and gripping his rifle close to his chest. He turned around and watched as Lucas dropped behind him with greater ease, strolling forward and flashing Joel and cheeky grin. Joel rolled his eyes and continued to walk towards the meeting point. He gazed up at the crumbling buildings around him. He always hated the city even before the outbreak. It felt so constricting, as if the buildings could fall on him at any moment. Which is now more true than ever. Lucas sighed and swung his arm over Joel’s shoulders, “What’s up cowboy?”

”Don’t like the city.” He muttered, letting his head lean to the side a little, resting it on Lucas’s arm. “We won’t be here long. Tommy and Tess should be in the safe house around the block and we can head straight back to the quarantine zone.”

”It just don’t feel right.” Joel muttered, scanning the windows on the surrounding buildings, looking for anything that might confirm his fears.

Thats when he saw a flash in one of the store windows, followed by a gunshot which echoed through the street. Joel wrapped his arm around Lucas and dove them to the side behind a car. Joel sat up and leaned his back against the car, flinching as another gunshot echoed through the street, the bullet hitting of the rusted car metal. Joel turned to Lucas who was still laying on the ground, his hand clutching his leg. Joel looked in horror as a pool of blood grew under him, the bullet wound just visible through the damaged fabric, “Fuck, fuck, fuck!” Joel muttered, scooting closer to him.

Joel lifted Lucas’ head and pulled him into his arm, causing the blonde to scream out in pain. Joel apologised profusely, pushing through helping Lucas sit up. He pulled away and crawled over to the far side of Lucas, taking the mans hand off the wound and examining it better. It looked like the bullet when clean through at least, didn’t make it any less painful though. Joel grabbed a piece of fabric from his backpack and wrapped it around the wound as best he could. Lucas’ took Joel’s hand, his own covered in dark blood. Joel looked up at Lucas, “I got it from here, go deal with that prick, okay?”

Joel looked at Lucas, the other man raising his hand and holding the back of Joel’s head briefly before pulling him in close for a short, gentle kiss. Joel pulled away slowly, resting his forehead against Lucas’. “I’ll be right back.”

Lucas smiled and nodded his head, letting go of Joel and watching as the man picked his rifle up off the ground and began to scout around towards the sniper nest. Joel dived towards the car in front of him, a bullet hitting of the ground just beside him. Joel cursed to himself, loading the rifle. He took a deep breath before bobbing his head over the car and firing a shot in the shooters direction. After the shot was fired he raced into the building beside him. Hopefully he could gain some leverage on the bastard. He began to race up the steps when he was greeted with the unwanted sound of other people conversing. 

“This is such shit.” A deep voice grumbled above him, a door opening a closing. “Let’s just go out there and make sure they’re dead. There hasn’t been any shots in a bit.”

Joel cursed under his breath. Fucking raiders. He remembered running into them a few times when he was with the hunter group in Boston. They we’re by no means as ruthless as hunters but they were smug and reckless. Joel swung his rifle over his shoulder and pull a shiv from his pocket. Creeping up the steps, listening closely as the two men’s voices grew louder. Joel stood by the door, his shiv down by his side as the first man began to walk towards him, “I hate this shit man! I-“

Joel lunged to the side and jabbed the shiv into the mans throat, the sharpen edge sliding into the mans throat with ease. He grunted as he dragged the blade to side and pushed the man away from him. The blood gushed out violently as the man stumbled backwards, his hands wrapped around his throat trying to stop the blood flow, and fell down the steps. The other man was fumbling to load his gun when Joel lunged at him. Pushing the gun up against his throat and applying as much pressure as he could. The man tried to push the gun away from his throat, his eyes locking on Joel’s begging for him to let go Joel turned away and pressed harder. The man strikes Joel in the groin, causing Joel to lean forward where he was greeted with a head butt. The man attempted to push Joel off him but only managed to anger him. Joel leaned into the man as hard as he could. Ignoring the weak punches he was throwing at him. The man eventually stopped struggling and his body fell limp. Joel cleared his throat. Pushing the body away from him and propping himself on the windowsill, loading the gun and scanning for the shooter. Joel locked on the man across the street, firing shots at Lucas’s direction. Joel held his breath and fired a shot at him, the bullet hitting the side of his head, killing the man instantly. Joel threw the gun to the ground and shuffled back down to Lucas. His heart was pounding and his head was racing. He knew it was him or them, didn’t mean it made it right.

Lucas’s smile dropped when he saw Joel rush towards him. Joel ignored the mans questions and helped prop him up onto his feet. Lucas pushed him away, “Joel will you fucking answer me!”

Joel stumbled back, looking up at Lucas. His eyes were red and he looked scared, “Are you hurt?”

Joel shook his head, looking down at his bloodied arms and clothes, “It ain’t my blood. Come on, we need to get to Tommy before more come.”

Lucas didn’t reply, instead fell back against the car. Joel rushed forward and held Lucas up, “Lu?”

”I’m fine. Just-Just dizzy.” Joel cursed under his breath. He was bleeding out and fast. Joel glanced down at his leg. The fabric was soaked a dark red and his pants were sticking to him from the blood. Joel continued to mutter under his breath as he wrapped his arm around Lucas’s torso, “We have to leave now. You’re losin’ a lot of blood.”

Lucas just nodded his response, fighting to lee his eyes open. Joel tried to pull the man along as fast as he can, only causing Lucas to cry out in pain as his leg dragged behind him. Lucas stumbled a little and fell from Joel’s hold, collapsing onto the floor in a heap. Joel bent down, trying to lift Lucas back up, “Come on, Lu. You need to get up! The safe house is right there.”

Lucas muttered under his breath, his head stirring side to side a little. Joel rubbed his eyes and lifted Lucas to his feet before throwing the man over his shoulder. Joel grunted and marched towards the safe house. He sighed with relief when Tess opened the safe house door and rushed over to them, helping Joel carry him into safety. They gently lowered him onto a couch and Tess pushed him out of the room so she could patch him up quick. Joel stood at the closed door, scared to move away. He hadn’t noticed Tommy behind him, trying to get his attention.

”Joel!” Joel turned slowly, his vision a little blurred, “What happened?”

”We were attacked.” He responded quietly, taking a step back and leaning against the wall. He rested his head in his hands and slowly slide down the wall, cursing himself for letting it happen. He should have known better than to walk out in the open. All of this could have been avoided. Tommy sat down beside his brother, looking at the wall in front of him, “you hurt?”

Joel shook his head, “No, no.” He croaked, taking his hands away from his face and looking at the blood. He was such an idiot. His face and hair was smeared with blood. Tommy sighed and offered Joel a cloth. He muttered a weak thank you and cleaned the blood from his face and his hands the best he could. 

After a few minutes, Tess came out of the room, her hands and clothes caked in blood. Tess looked up at Tommy and then down at Joel befitting nodding her head, “He’ll be fine. He just needs to rest for a bit.”

”While he does, I need to talk to both of you about our next pickup.” Tess explained, moving down the hall, Tommy pushed himself from the wall and trailed behind her. Joel used his knee as a support to pull himself up, “Tommy, will you fill me in later? I’ll stay with Lucas for a bit, just in case.”

”He’ll be fine, Joel.” Tommy replied, stopping and turning to face his older brother. Joel avoided his gaze, “Better safe than sorry.”

Tommy rolled his eyes back and continued on with Tess, leaving Joel with Lucas. Joel entered the dirty room, closing the door behind him. He looked in horror as Lucas was sprawled across a beaten couch, dried blood stuck to his skin and badly wrapped bandage. Joel shuffled over slowly, scared of waking him. He sat down on the ground beside him, taking his hand in his own and squeezing it gently. Joel couldn’t explain why but he always hated that Lucas had bigger hands. Maybe it was some competitive nature within him, but he hated it. He was taller after all. Lucas stirred a little, his grip on Joel’s hand tightening for a brief moment. Joel scooted closet, pulling his hand under his chin and watching Lucas closely. Lucas’s eyes slowly fluttered open, a deep wrinkle forming between his brow as he squinted. He looked over and took a few moments to focus his eyes, smiling when he realised the figure was Joel, “God, glad it was you holding my hand and not some stranger. That’d be weird.” He croaked.

Joel wanted to be mad but couldn’t contain the smile forming on his lips. He leaned his head forward and rested in gently beside Lucas, scared to lean on the man himself. Lucas smiled and took his hand back from Joel and ran his fingers through the Texans greasy hair, “I’m so sorry, Lu. We should’ve taken the other way.”

Lucas shushed him, “Joel if you even attempt to start apologising I’ll break up with you right now.”

Joel sat up and scowled at Lucas, earning him a cheeky grin in return. Joel went to turn away went Lucas leaned in and kissed him gently on the lips. Joel closed his eyes, “When I was beginning to fade out, all I could think about was kissing you.” Lucas mumbled, “Not as good as I thought it was though...”

Joel budged Lucas’s arm gently, pushing himself back and away from the man. Lucas just laughed, flinching, “Fuck! This hurts.”

“It’s karma.” Joel replied half-heartedly, smirking as Lucas flashed him a unamused frown, “I called you a bad kisser so it’s karma I near had my leg blown off?”

Joel just shrugged, a pleased look on his face. Lucas began to cough a little, “Need a drink?”

Lucas nodded his head, “Vodka preferably.” He joked, stopping to cough a little, “But water would be fine as well.”

Joel ignored him and pulled himself onto his feet, groaning a little. He was beginning to feel his age alright. He leaned over and kissed Lucas’s forehead and headed to the door. He closed it behind him and headed down the hall to the kitchen where Tess and Tommy still were. Tommy was sat on the kitchen island, gazing down at his thumbs. Tess was in the corner of the room, fiddling with a pocket knife. They both looked up at Joel in sync before making eye contact with one another. Joel furrowed his eyebrows and closed the door behind him, “What?”

They both looked at each other hesitantly before Tess clearers her throat, “I’m going to check on Lucas.”

”He’s up, he wanted some water.” Joel replied. Tess reached for her backpack and grabbed a half-empty water bottle, “I’ll bring him some then.”

With that, she rushed out of the room, the door slamming shut behind her. Joel stepped further into the room, resting his hands on the island, “Care to tell me what’s going on?”

“I-I..” Tommy stuttered, moving his head away from Joel, “I heard you and Lucas talkin’. I went to see if you were alright and well...”

Joel lowered his head and slowly pushed himself away from the table. Pacing back and forth slowly, his fingers massaging his forehead. He wasn’t exactly hiding his relationship with Lucas but was not exactly open about it either. Not to say he was ashamed of what had happened between them but he was always fearful of how people would react. He knew much of the old world mentality still remained, even though it had been gone a long time. Joel stood still and sighed, “How much did you hear?”

”Heard Lucas talkin’ about you kissin’... Look, Joel, it’s none of my business and I’m sorry to have eased dropped.” Tommy rambled, jumping off the counter and moving towards Joel. Joel wanted to step back but couldn’t move. Maybe he should have told Tommy as soon as it happened. Maybe it would have prevented this moment from happening. Joel took a deep breath, “Suppose you were gonna find out sooner or later.” Joel muttered.

”So...how long have you two been a, thing?” Tommy asked. Joel lowered his head and gazed down at his feet, “Nearly six months now.”

”Six?” Tommy replied a little loudly, causing Joel to flinch a little. He cleared his throat. He knew Joel. Better than anyone else, at least he thought he did anyway. He understood why Joel didn’t want to tell him, not after their upbringing. Not after the stuff they heard out in rural Texas. But the world was different now. “Does he make you happy?” Tommy asked.

Joel didn’t look up but nodded his head. He felt awful for not telling Tommy but he physically couldn’t bring himself to do it. Every time he had tried, Tommy had something important to tell them or they were having a nice time and Joel didn’t want to risk ruining the moment. Joel looked up at Tommy, his vision a little fuzzy from the tears gathering in his eyes. Tommy sighed and reached forward, pulling Joel into a warm hug, his older brother sniffling a little into his shoulder, “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner.”

”I don’t care, Joel. So long as you’re happy.” He muttered in response. Joel pulled away and gave Tommy a weak smile, “So, what’s the plan?”

After a few minutes of conversing about the plan for the next pick up and drop off for Bill. Tess entered the room, a smirk on her face. Joel furrowed his brows, she had definitely got Lucas to talk. He ignored her and focused back on Tommy who was pointing at different positions on the map, “Lucas wants you Joel.”

Joel gazed at Tess before shaking his head, “I’ll be back in a few.” 

Joel slowly opened the door and smiled seeing Lucas was still sprawled across the couch, counting out loud. He turned his head to Joel and smiled brightly, “Did you know that there’s eight spiders in this room. Well, roughly eight assuming I wasn’t counting the same spider more than once.” 

Joel rolled his eyes back and sat down on the arm of the couch, “Tess said you wanted me?”

Lucas nodded his head looked down at his hands, “I told her, about us.”

”It’s fine, I told Tommy about us.” Joel replied, stroking his hand through Lucas’s hair. Lucas looked up at Joel and scowled a little, before shrugging his shoulders.

”Lu?”

”Yeah, Joel?” He replied.

”I love you.” He muttered. Lucas looked up at Joel in disbelief. Joel dodging his gaze and stares at his watch, “Was all I could keep thinking about when I was carrying you here. How I hadn’t said it to you.”

Lucas reached for Joel’s hand and squeezed it gently, the Texan locking eyes with the man, “I love you too, Joel.”


End file.
